


To Bring Hope

by Merfilly



Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Genre: 5+1 Things, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Gen, Treat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-01
Updated: 2020-08-01
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:15:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25530433
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: Her name may not be known everywhere She goes, but she listens, and walks, granting Hope through Harvest, to those She finds worthy.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 14
Collections: Every Woman 2020





	To Bring Hope

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AceQueenKing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceQueenKing/gifts).



> I hope this finds you well, recipient.

_Early 1900s_

The Lady was not a beautiful one, but she was not plain by any stretch of the imagination. Jonathan took one look at her, wearing a dress that draped along her curves in ways that made him recall his late wife and yearn for the quiet comfort of nights by the fire with her.

What she was doing at the crossroads of his fields, Jonathan had not a clue. He thought to go and speak with her, but held back. Wouldn't do a bit of good to confirm that he was going crazy after all. Ever since losing Evelyn, he'd felt a bit spare in his wits, only going on to make certain he had enough put by to support their one daughter. She made him keep going, when all he longed for was to go on and be in the Eternal Rest with Evelyn.

A few more years, he told himself, and she'd be through schooling, maybe find a proper boy at the County Fair. He hoped she'd find one with an eye to banking or medicine, because farming…

…there wasn't much money to be had, no matter how much people needed food.

He glanced out again, and noted the Lady had moved into one of the fields, the one with his benighted corn. If he didn't get ahead of the blight this year, he'd never turn enough profit to send his daughter to one more semester of school, let alone the three she needed to be considered 'educated'. 

Again, he thought to go and speak to the apparition, yet held back. The Lady walked one full row, and as he expected to see Her turn a corner, it was as if she had never been there.

"Losing your marbles, Jonathan," he said to himself, yet curiosity won out. He went to look over the corn, walking along and trying not to shake his head at the pitiful state they were in.

Until he came to the first two rows, he was growing more and more convinced that the harvest would be the worst in years. And then he was between the two the Lady had walked, and he could not believe his eyes.

"Sweet mother of god," he whispered, looking at the healthy stalks, promising a chance at profit for his beloved daughter. "Thank you, Lady. For her sake."

* * *

_1940s_

Peggy had never minded the hard work.

It had been easier, though, when she'd have all four of her brothers here to help with it. She could manage the tractor and all of the rest of the farm equipment, but… there were only so many hours in the day.

She paused, looking back at the house. Billy's young wife was inside, belly huge with a child that would never know their father. Peggy had to keep doing this, had to be able to provide for them both. Jack and Johnny might still be alive, but the telegram had been clear on Billy's fate.

And now, Bobby was already on the train to Kansas City, to go volunteer. 

"Blessed crops, please have mercy on a mother to be and her child," Peggy said softly, readying for another day of labor.

It might have just been the heat starting early, or the haze of dust, but Peggy could have sworn she saw someone walking the rows. Only, no one answered her call, and when she went, all she could see were the weeds between the rows, pulled and discarded, as the young plants thrived.

* * *

_1960s_

Lemuel had never seen a flood this severe. They said an entire town had been destroyed. No one knew how they could rebuild, let alone get the fields ready for planting. The standing water wasn't going anywhere in time, given that the old men said frost was now past.

"Sir… can you come look at this?"

It was a feminine voice, but when all their lives depended on it, was there any surprise the women had waders on, and had borrowed trousers? He walked over to where … huh, he didn't know her. Was she part of the Red Cross team? Or, maybe she was with the Corps of Engineers. He remembered hearing that there was an effort to increase the number of women allowed in Service.

Whoever she was, he'd remember her. As striking as his mother, if a bit darker, and with a face that vaguely said 'foreign' to his own way of thinking.

He'd never turn aside the advice of a woman, though. He'd been raised by his own mother and grandmother with a respect for them. He even half-understood all the fussing in the papers, with the women trying to find better, stronger places in society.

"What — " and then Lemuel actually saw. The field they were slogging through sat just that much bit above a creek, and if they could break down the brush barrier slowing the water's path, they could reclaim this one, maybe a few hundred acres even!

He turned to thank her for bringing his attention to it… and she was gone.

"Bless you, Lady, whomever you are, for saving us."

* * *

_1990s_

Lydia was only supposed to be taking inventory. Never mind that she loathed this project. Where in all the names of goodness was there room for creating superior seeds… that only produced infertile seed in the next generation? Even the ancient serfs and peasants had been given a right to keep and store seed from the crop for the next planting!

She had not expected to see another there, a woman wearing the most proper business suit-dress Lydia had ever seen, her features set with a classical disapproval of the entire storeroom.

"Excuse me?"

The woman — no, more than that — Lady looked at her, and merely shook Her head.

"This is not My design."

A feeling of change came over the room, cascading through Lydia herself before she fainted. She did not tell anyone, afraid of losing the job that gave her access to insurance and stability. She did think on it, often, when she and her husband found themselves expecting. Too long of trying had left them convinced it would not happen.

It would be the following year, when several farmers who had bought seed successfully replanted, never having known it should have failed, that Lydia was certain she was thankful she had not mentioned it then. As she greeted her new daughter, she thought of the Lady, and smiled.

* * *

_Early 2000s_

"Big Ag is the problem," Sidney said.

All around the room, there was agreement.

Then the stranger to their meeting, the one feared as a corporate spy, stood up from her seat in the back room. All eyes gravitated to her, and all remained quiet, making Sidney reappraise the woman.

Wearing an elegant dress cut in a vintage style, she already seemed out of place to Sidney's eyes. The face, though, with piercing eyes and a nose that belonged to Classic statuary, drew Sidney's attention as the woman began to speak.

"Greed is why they are the problem. So many diseases have been solved by them, blight resistant strains of food staples. Taking what they have made, and freeing it into the world is the route we must take."

"How?"

Sidney's one word drew a smile. 

"With their own tools. Stock purchase, contracts to promising agronomy students, and such."

"We don't have — "

Sidney's words died away as the woman, Lady? Pulled out a folder of paperwork.

"All that wish to try this way? These are stock certificates that need signatures, for one of the smaller companies. Start there… but remember. If you allow greed to pull you into their paths, there will be a debt to pay back."

Sidney felt a chill, going forward to investigate the offerings. By the time Sidney was certain the certificates were not faked, given the notarized letters, the Lady was gone, and they had hope on how to move forward in their mission to feed the world.

* * *

_Eleusis_

The planet was no more closer to a balance than ever before. Demeter walked among the groves of Her home, listening to the pleas for food from so many. Soon, She would walk again, and find those who honored their mother, cherished their child, and gave to others selflessly. She would bring Her aid to these, and give hope where She could.

It was not enough to stem the tide, but Demeter had let the Earth scorch once… and learned the lesson of ignoring it.

**Author's Note:**

> [Taking Requests](https://merfilly.tumblr.com/ask)
> 
> * * *
> 
> If in this work, I have presented something that is in need of a tag for protecting readers, please drop me an email at sharpest(dot)asp(at)gmail(dot)com. This includes negative depictions or objectifications of any group of persons held as a minority.


End file.
